Kristina Kleutghenhttp://kristinakleutghen.com
David W. Mesker Career Development Professor of Art History in Arts & Sciences, Washington University in St. LouisWed, 30 Dec 2015 04:30:41 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/http://1.gravatar.com/blavatar/56d14f9dce1e6cb51953c4ac09311b60?s=96&d=http%3A%2F%2Fs2.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.pngKristina Kleutghenhttp://kristinakleutghen.com
New book under advance contract!http://kristinakleutghen.com/2015/10/15/new-book-under-advance-contract/
http://kristinakleutghen.com/2015/10/15/new-book-under-advance-contract/#respondThu, 15 Oct 2015 20:58:17 +0000http://kristinakleutghen.com/?p=1451]]>I’m thrilled to announce that my second book is now under advance contract with University of Washington Press!

Lens onto the World:

Optical Devices, Art, Science, and Society in China

When the first Chinese treatise on optics appeared in the mid-nineteenth century, it was both inspired by and illustrated with a wide range of optical devices that had circulated in China for nearly four hundred years. Although originally imported from abroad, devices such as spectacles, telescopes, camera obscuras, peepboxes, and more were domesticated almost immediately, and considered part of art and visual culture more than of science and technology. This resulted in little scientific literature, but a wide range of images depicting the devices alone and in use, prints and paintings meant to be used with the devices, works resulting from the devices themselves, and illustrations appearing in technical and commercial treatises. These varied works consistently reveal that the effects of optical devices on vision and visuality arose from local culture and social class rather than from foreign ideas. Focusing on the forgotten relationship between optical devices and art in China from the fifteenth through early-twentieth centuries, Lens onto the World blends the histories of art and science to rediscover the objects and artworks that led to both the independent development of optics within Chinese science and encouraged new image technologies such as photography and cinema. With Chinese optical devices little studied in any field, rediscovering them and their sociocultural effects through the numerous related works of art reveals the intertwined histories of art, science, and society in the development of modern China.

]]>http://kristinakleutghen.com/2015/10/15/new-book-under-advance-contract/feed/0kkleutghenYZ 10th month det smallNew article: “Peepboxes, Society, and Visuality in Early Modern China”http://kristinakleutghen.com/2015/09/12/new-article-peepboxes-society-and-visuality-in-early-modern-china/
http://kristinakleutghen.com/2015/09/12/new-article-peepboxes-society-and-visuality-in-early-modern-china/#respondSat, 12 Sep 2015 12:41:27 +0000http://kristinakleutghen.com/?p=1444]]>“Peepboxes, Society, and Visuality in Early Modern China,” the first article related to my second book project on Chinese art and optical devices, is now published in the September issue of Art History! This special issue, “Objects in Motion in the Early Modern World,” is edited by Daniela Bleichmar and Meredith Martin.

George Henry Mason, “A Man with a Raree Show, colored engraving after painting by Puqua. The Costume of China (1800)

]]>http://kristinakleutghen.com/2015/09/12/new-article-peepboxes-society-and-visuality-in-early-modern-china/feed/0kkleutghenThe Costume of China (1800)Podcast on Imperial Illusionshttp://kristinakleutghen.com/2015/02/20/podcast-on-imperial-illusions/
http://kristinakleutghen.com/2015/02/20/podcast-on-imperial-illusions/#respondFri, 20 Feb 2015 18:31:46 +0000http://kristinakleutghen.com/?p=1397]]>Carla Nappi recently interviewed me about Imperial Illusions as part of the New Books in East Asian Studies podcast series.

]]>http://kristinakleutghen.com/2015/02/20/podcast-on-imperial-illusions/feed/0kkleutghenImperial Illusions now available!http://kristinakleutghen.com/2015/02/08/imperial-illusions-now-available/
http://kristinakleutghen.com/2015/02/08/imperial-illusions-now-available/#respondSun, 08 Feb 2015 20:15:47 +0000http://kristinakleutghen.com/?p=1392]]>Imperial Illusions: Crossing Pictorial Boundaries in the Qing Palaces is now available from University of Washington Press! Accompanying the book is a website from the Mellon Art History Publication Initiative (AHPI) that includes a great media gallery including images of some of the works featured in the book, video tours of some sites where the paintings were installed, and content excerpts for free download.

]]>http://kristinakleutghen.com/2015/02/08/imperial-illusions-now-available/feed/0kkleutghenScreen Shot 2015-02-08 at 14.13.01Imperial Illusions available for pre-order!http://kristinakleutghen.com/2014/11/17/imperial-illusions-available-for-pre-order/
http://kristinakleutghen.com/2014/11/17/imperial-illusions-available-for-pre-order/#respondMon, 17 Nov 2014 12:17:18 +0000http://kristinakleutghen.com/?p=1384]]>Imperial Illusions: Crossing Pictorial Boundaries in the Qing Palaces is now available for pre-order! It will be officially available 11 December on Amazon, and 14 December at Barnes and Noble.